Category Archives: Microbicides

The vaccine that showed a vaccine can prevent HIV infection also has shown that the vaccine changed the virus in people who did become infected, according to research revealed today in the first plenary session of AIDS Vaccine 2012. The findings were the third revelation from a study that first generated excitement in the AIDS […]

When he looks at what biomedical science can do in the next decade to prevent HIV transmission, Jim Turpin of the National Institutes of Health said, he thinks of the lyrics of a Timbuk3 song: “The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades.” By, which, actually, he means — don’t get blinded by the light; […]

First potential participants screened Tuesday for inclusion in ASPIRE trial

Scientists presented progress in assessing the potential of a vaginal ring containing the potent antiretroviral drug dapivirine in preventing HIV infection in women, as two studies to assess its safety and efficacy move into Phase III.

The following is a guest blog post by Chris Collins, vice president and director of Public Policy at the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC.

Looking back over three decades of AIDS, it’s hard to point to a better investment than research. Over the past three years, a string of HIV prevention research breakthroughs has put the ambitious goal of even talking about an end of AIDS within sight for the first time. With more strategic use of the tools we have today, we can bend the curve of new infections…

The House Appropriations Committee voted on its fiscal year (FY) 2013 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill Wednesday and released a report that clarifies its funding intentions for key global health programs. The bill includes $5.542 billion for global AIDS funding through the State Department, and the report specifies $4.243 billion to support the U.S. […]

Furthering a hot topic of debate over the last several months wrought with conflicting evidence from various clinical trials, investigators at the 2012 International Microbicides Conference in Sydney presented new data looking at the use of hormonal contraceptives and HIV transmission risk. The new data emerged from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 035 study […]

Dr. Dorothy Mbori-Ngacha from UNICEF presented a sobering picture of the potential to eliminate 90 percent of HIV infections among children by 2015—the goal established by UNAIDS and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program in June of 2011. She outlined the four pillars of the achieving that goal at the 19th […]

Investigators hinted at a way to improve upon the HIV prevention results achieved in the CAPRISA 004 one percent tenofovir vaginal microbicide study, which found a 39 percent protective benefit for women using the pre- and post- coital gel. Lead CAPRISA investigators Drs. Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim broached the subject during a thoughtful plenary […]

The Microbicides Trial Network released promising results from its “MTN-007” Phase I safety and acceptability study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, looking at a new formulation of one percent tenofovir gel for rectal use Tuesday. The results were presented at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle. Earlier formulations […]

Another arm of the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (VOICE) trial has been discontinued, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health announced Friday. The Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) recommended the discontinuation of the daily one percent tenofovir vaginal gel arm of the study during […]